Captain
Oba's company, the last group to surrender on Saipan. Arakaki, third
from left in back row.

As
Prisoner J-608 in Oahu Prison. (Registered under last name, "Shingaki,"
an alternate reading of "Arakaki.")

Pastor
Saburo Arakaki: evangelist to Okinawa

The
Story

Saburo
Arakaki was just a teenager when, in 1944, the Pacific War ravaged his island home of Saipan. Entangled in the fierce war waged between U.S. forces and Japanese
troops, he fled with thousands of others toward Marpi Point, the northern point of the island. From “Banzai Cliff,” a bluff
80 feet above the sea and “Suicide Cliff,”
rising a thousand feet above jagged rocks, hundreds of Japanese chose to
leap to their deaths from the jagged cliffs rather than surrender to U.S.
forces.

Ultimately,
in the Battle of Saipan, some 50,000 Japanese
troops and civilians perished. Arakaki survived.

On
December 1, 1945,
Arakaki was in Captain Oba's company, the last group of 48 Japanese stragglers
to
surrender on Saipan. Arakaki had committed two murders on the order of a Japanese M.P., and following his
surrender, the American Naval Martial Court sentenced Arakaki to
death by hanging.

However, Arakaki's sentence was unexpectedly reduced to life in prison in Hawaii.
His life had been spared, but Arakaki was despondent at the prospect of a life spent
behind bars. In the midst of the Battle of Saipan, he had stood on the precipice of
despair at the edge of Suicide Cliff on Saipan. Now, loneliness, guilt, and rage drove him toward another precipice of
despair.

On
Suicide Cliff, a soothing rainbow of light had risen out of the sea to
settle over Arakaki. Now, in the darkness of his despair, Arakaki encountered the
Bible. Just as the rainbow atop Suicide Cliff had soothed his spirit, the
words of the Bible healed and transformed Arakaki's heart.

Nine months later, Arakaki was baptized as a Christian. Arakaki made a promise to God that if he
were released from prison, he would spend his life working for him.

In 1954,
after nine years of imprisonment, Saburo Arakaki received full Presidential
pardon. He returned to Japan and, fulfilling his promise to God, became a preacher. Today, on the Island of
Okinawa, he continues to share the gift of hope and
renewed life that God granted him.

In
the Media

Television
In 1987, Japanese author, playwright, and producer Tsuneyuki Mohri created a documentary of
Saburo Arakaki's life. Arakaki returned to Saipan, Guam, and Hawaii with
Mohri and a film crew to retrace the steps of his dramatic wartime story of
transformation. The documentary aired
on KBC-TV in Japan.

Newspaper
Saburo Arakaki's story made headlines in Hawaii and Pacific Rim newspapers when
he received presidential pardon and was released from prison.
He made headlines again in 1987 when he returned to
Saipan, Guam, and Hawaii to retrace the steps of his dramatic story.

The
Japanese edition of Rainbow
Over Hell has been serialized in a Japanese-language newspaper in Brazil.

MagazineIn 1998, Saburo Arakaki's story was the cover article for the World Edition
of Adventist Review.

BookThe Japanese edition ofRainbow
Over Hell (Jigoku-no Niji) was originally published by The
Mainichi Newspapers Co. in 1998. In 2005, a paperback
edition of the Japanese book was released by Kodansha Publishing.

Pacific
Press released the first English edition of
Rainbow
Over Hell in March 2006.